By Alec Go
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. assured Thursday that the government is continuously monitoring the activities of Taal and Mayon Volcanoes.
This, after Mayon Volcano was placed on Alert Level 3 (increased tendency towards a hazardous eruption), Thursday noon.
“Right now, what we are doing is preparing and moving people away from the area,” the President told the media in an interview.
“Naka-ready naman tayo, ganoon naman talaga ang ating ginagawa. We watch it very, very closely, make sure that any of the communities that could be affected are evacuated and are given assistance while they are evacuated until the time that they can return to their homes,” he added.
According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), repeated collapse of the growing summit dome of Mayon Volcano has been observed since June 5, when the volcano’s status was raised to Alert Level 2.
Phivolcs said this has generated an increasing number and volume of rockfall events totaling to 267.
“This means that Mayon is exhibiting magmatic eruption of a summit lava dome, with increased chances of lava flows and hazardous PDCs [pyroclastic density current] affecting the upper to middle slopes of the volcano and of potential explosive activity within weeks or even days,” it noted.
Evacuation has been recommended within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone of Mayon.
Meanwhile, the President said the Department of Health (DOH) is looking after those affected by the emissions of Taal. Taal remains under Alert Level 1.
